I have an idea that I would like to share with you, in the hope that this can be realized in the near future.
I believe that any Armenian of good faith would agree to such a proposal because it could bring Armenia out of the current situation and grow the country as a modern and advanced state. We Armenians have a human richness that few other peoples in the world, except perhaps the Jews who have had situations similar to the Armenian people throughout history. This rare richness is the rich Armenian Diaspora with talented characters in different sectors and with experiences acquired by the States of residence. A concrete way to exploit this wealth could be to include in the Constitution of the Country:
1. A Superior Senate to oversee the Armenian Parliament, with tasks and powers of verification, requests for amendments or approvals, and issuance of approvals for the repeal of any Law
2. The members of the Senate should be elected by all the Armenian people including Armenians of the Diaspora, even if they do not hold Armenian citizenship.
3. The candidates of these elections, not necessarily citizens, must be people with high professional qualifications and willing to devote at least 30% of their time to issues concerning Armenia and follow a specific course of legislation to act in this Senate.
4. In this way none of them could be maneuvered or threatened or routed by the authorities of the Armenian government, and make truly free decisions for the sole good of Armenia.
5. The Senate itself should be able to review the various institutions of the State by making adjustments and raising the qualification of local institutions, on a par or better than other States in the world.
6. The participation of the Armenians of diaspora, in addition to participating in the elections of the "Upper Senate", must also include participation in assessing mandatory taxation, expenses (for example military expenses), management, and verification by the S.S.
To achieve such a system of government, the impetus should come from the Armenian citizens, who must first be informed of the possibility of carrying out such a plan. To this end an organization of people endowed with intelligence, financial dispositions and patriotism could promote the initiative of informing through the media and internet all Armenians of the Diaspora and RoA for the realization of the plan giving their support to the organization to achieve the proposed goal.
I am not a Legislator to draw up a specific Road Map, but the relevant experts and appropriate people can be appointed for this purpose, I believe that every Armenian of the Armenian Republic or the Diaspora will agree to the realization of such a plan.
Who knows if such an action will be carried out or is it just my utopia?
Heratch A., Italy
Նախաձեռնող
I suggest that we as community come up with strategy initiatives, and give opportunity for the signatories to join the initiatives they can add value the most. During one of the calls with Ruben Vardanyan, he was mentioning the importance of having focus areas, which have the most potential to grow and develop in Armenia. I completely agree with his thinking and believe that The FUTURE ARMENIAN can start with a few focus industries, such as Tech, Education, Agritech, etc. Later, each industry will have separate initiatives which people can actively contribute to. This will not only help set actionable goals, but also will improve the sense of community. The signatories will get to know each other, work together, and hopefully even more people around the world will become signatories, as they will be able to come and contribute with something they are passionate about.
Suzie M., UK
Նախաձեռնող
We must continue to educate. Education will provide us with distinct abilities so that we can respond correctly and quickly to the changing situation and advance our interests.
Convention Participant
I am a Diaspora Armenian born and raised in California, the daughter of genocide survivors, a physician and biotech expert who has volunteered in Armenia for multiple years in health-related areas.My comments come from the perspective of someone who has tried to be helpful, but who encountered multiple barriers.My suggestions below are cross-cutting and address multiple goals.1)Create a Diaspora-Armenia Innovation and Business Park/Centera.Such an entity would not only attract many more diaspora Armenians to open businesses in Armenia, but it would also create jobs and potentially an economic boom for the country. Jobs would be needed to support all the activities noted below, to support the new businesses and to support the increased number of people engaged in business activities (down-stream impact on restaurants, stores, services etc)b.This would be both a physical brick and mortar office park and a virtual office park whose mission is to make it easy to start a business and that overcomes well-known barriers (corruption, complicated laws and regulations, socio-cultural issues, and so forth). Locations would be in Yerevan and ideally one in each Marz.c.Provide business support services and education to diaspora Armenians, essentially create a business start-up tool-kitd.Provide human resources services to help with hiring and employee management.e.Provide practical educational services such as language classes (Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, Russian, English, French), legal requirements and responsibilities in Armenia, how to set up vendor and contractor contracts in Armenia, socio-political topics, market research topics and so forth. Essentially anything that a diaspora businessperson would need to know to successfully open and manage a business in Armenia.f.Access to trustworthy, honest, high quality business support service providers that are fully vetted (e.g. attorneys, accountants, IT experts) g.Training programs for Armenia citizens to give them the skills needed by the new businesses (this could be a separate entity that contracts with the Innovation and Business Park/Centerh.Access to a variety of physical office spaces that can be rented or purchased.i.Access to executive apartments (long term and short-term rentals) that meet western standards of quality.j.Provide security solutions to businesses to prevent damage and theft (physical and digital).k.Liaison to government authorities to ensure government is able to address diaspora business people’s needs (e.g. 2)Develop in-country Armenia expertise in Eurasia Economic Union capabilitiesa.Given that as of this month all pharmaceutical and biotech approvals must now go through the EAEU and which gives any product approved in one country full reciprocity/approval in all EAEU countries, there is an opportunity for Armenia to be a preferred country in which companies conduct business to gain product registration.
b.Create businesses that provide pharma and biotech companies with the services needed to complete their product registration applications and to maintain their approvals/registrations. Become a one stop shop for these companies. Services would include legal and regulatory affairs experts, writers, translators (all documents must be in Russian), IT support and so forth.c.This could create many well-paying jobs for Armenians.d.This could establish Armenia as the “go to” country for businesses wishing to expand to EAEU countries. Given that Armenia is the most internationally facing of the EAEU countries, this is a logical role for Armenia. e.This will make Armenia indispensable to the EAEU success by attracting more businesses to the EAEU.f.Once this is accomplished for pharma/biotech, the same concept can be applied to other areas.3)Create a Diaspora-Armenia Healthcare Education and Capabilities Institutea.Improvement in the quality of healthcare in Armenia is critical to attracting people to emigrate and to attracting international businesses to open offices in Armenia. No one wants to be in a country for extended periods of time unless there is high quality medical care.b.There is a glut of doctors in Armenia but very few are well trained. On the other hand,there is shortage of nurses and cultural disparagement of the nursing profession (because they compete with doctors). c.The Institute could work to fix this long-term problem and shift the healthcare culture to one of high quality, high standards, accountability and collaboration across specialties and professions.d.This would include mentoring programs with top medical experts throughout the world, exchange programs, continuingmedical education programs and so forth.e.This would include working with the Republic of Armenia government to update regulations and laws to support a system that can provide high quality medical care and that can rout out corruption.f.This would include working closely with existing educational institutions in Armenia (YSMU, AUA, etc).g.Become an avenue for Armenia healthcare professionals to gain access to technical training, information, tech support.h.To become a think tank to problem-solve Armenia’s many healthcare challenges.4)Create a Diaspora-Armenia International Affairs Institutea.Similar in concept to #3 above (Healthcare) except for International and Foreign Affairsb.This would haveavery strong strategic component that included techniques for anticipating response options for different scenarios and game-out thesescenarios.c.Couldbe an avenue for collaboration with other international affairs think tanks of global acclaim.d.A means by which to set a higher standard and higher bar for Armenian foreign affairs which will becritical to survival of theRepublic of Armenia.e.A conduit to creating relationships with other countries that will enablethose countries to be motivated to support a strong and independent and flourishing Armenia.5)Develop a Diaspora-Armenia Philanthropy Societya.Create an NGO that supports NGOs.b.One thing that was clear during the 44-day War was that the ability of the government to provide humanitarian services or even to request humanitarian assistance or to know
which humanitarian organization were available to help completely collapsed in part because there was a lack of management of NGOs. This cannot happen again.c.There is also no strategic or operational coordination of NGOs.d.Armenia and NGOs working to help the people of Armenia would benefit from establishment of such a society.e.The Republic of Armenia would need to “bless” such an endeavor and agree to work and cooperate with this endeavor.f.Similar in concept to #1 above (diaspora business park/center); in fact,some functions could be shared between #1 and #5 (e.g. educational and training services)g.NGOs play a critical role in Armenia and should be part of any emergency response strategy.
Susan J., Armenia
Նախաձեռնող
Ես միգուցե չկարողանամ ապրել Հայաստանում, բայց որպես հայ իմ պարտականությունն է իմ մասնագիտական գիտելիքներն ու անձնական ռեսուրսներն ուղղել ի նպաստ Հայրենիքի։
Համաժողովի մասնակից
Այս քննարկումները պետք է իրականացվեն մարզերում, որպեսզի հասկանանք մարզում բնակվողի խնդիրներն ու պատճառները։ Խնդիրները լուծելուց հետո մարզերում կավելանա ծնելիությունը, որը մեր ազգային անվտանգության խնդիր է։
Համաժողովի մասնակից
We must have an ideology, and we must create a mutually beneficial channel between Armenia and the Diaspora so that one can benefit from the other.
Convention Participant
The Diaspora should work in the direction of strengthening Armenia, Armenia should be at the center. Armenia should become a strong and safe country. Like the Jews, we should be able to create a powerful country, even if it is surrounded by enemies.
Convention Participant
Հրաշալի գաղափար` համախմբվել Հայաստանը հզորացնելու շուրջ և շոշափելի արդյունք ստանալու համար` հատկապես կրթության բարելավմանը պիտի ուշադրություն դարձնենք։ Հզոր է այն պետությունը, որի քաղաքացին գիտակ է իր ոլորտում, իր մասնագիտության մեջ։ Ինքս կրթական ոլորտում արդեն 12 տարի է մասնագիտական արագացված դասընթացների միջոցով` ՀՀ աշխատաշուկան համալրում եմ որակյալ, մրցունակ կադրերով։ 44օրյա պատերազմից հետո բազմաթիվ հայորդիներ, հաշմանդամության տարբեր աստիճան ստացած իրենց կյանքի ուղին և ապագան չեն կարողանում պլանավորեն։ Արտ Հաուս ուսումնական կենտրոնում նրանցից շատերին պատիվ ունեցանք դասավանդելու և փորձում ենք աշխատատեղի հարցում օգնել, բայց խնդիրն ավելի գլոբալ է, և ձեր, մեր բոլորի ուժերի մոբիլիզացիայի կարիքը կա։ Այդ սերունդն է, որ պիտի ապրեցնի ԱՊԱԳԱ ՀԱՅԿԱԿԱՆԸ և հակառակը։
Լիլիթ Կ․, Հայաստան
Նախաձեռնող
The problem in the Diaspora is that it is not a systematic, functioning structure. It is not a model. People are united in religious or political groups, but there should be a model that unites everyone regardless of those circumstances.
Convention Participant
«ԱՊԱԳԱ ՀԱՅԿԱԿԱՆԸ» նախ և առաջ հոգեբանորեն փորձում է վերականգնել հույսը, որ յուրաքանչյուր հայ ունի հնարավորություն գործելու, ճիշտ ընտրված թիմը, էլ ավելի է ներշնչում վստահություն, որ յուրաքանչյուրս կարող ենք գործել: Ինձ որպես արցախցու, մտահոգում է Արցախի և Հայաստանի կապը, և 15 նպատակներից, ամենաշատը կենտրոնացած եմ այդ կետի վրա:
Լուսինե Ս․, Հայաստան
Նախաձեռնող
I was born abroad, and I am the 4th generation to be born there, but the first language I spoke was Armenian. In other cities of my country, the communities are well organized, the children want to go to school, the camps are organized, but if Armenia has to do something, it should be done through "soft power," in the form of fairy tale books and materials. They should exist and be spread.
